The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday imposed a provisional penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position in multiple categories related to Android mobile device ecosystem in the country.
The competition watchdog noted that the US tech giant abused its dominance in the licensing of operating system (OS) for smart mobile devices, app store market for Android smart mobile, general web search services, non-OS specific mobile web browsers and online video hosting platforms in the country.
In April 2019, the regulator had ordered a detailed probe in the matter following complaints by consumers of Android-based smartphones in the country. Android is an open-source, mobile OS installed by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of smartphones and tablets.
The CCI also directed Google to modify its conduct within a defined timeline. “The Commission noted that there were glaring inconsistencies and wide disclaimers in presenting various revenue data points by Google,” the antitrust regulator said, adding that it has given the company 30 days to provide the requisite
financial details and supporting documents. This means that the final penalty amount can go up.
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According to CCI, Google manages the Android OS as well as other licences, giving it advantage over its competitors to pre-install most prominent search entry points such as search apps, widget and chrome browser on Android devices. Further, Google also secured significant competitive edge over its competitors, in relation to its another revenue earning app such as YouTube in the Android devices.
“The competitors of these services could never avail the same level of market access which Google secured and embedded for itself through MADA (Mobile Application Distribution Agreement) Network effects, coupled with status quo bias, create significant entry barriers for competitors of Google to enter or operate in the concerned markets,” the CCI said in its order. A MADA is entered between Google and handset makers to use the former’s apps in the phone. The agreement assures that the most prominent search entry points like search app, widget and chrome browser are pre-installed on Android devices.
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In order to check Google from abusing its dominant position, the CCI has ordered that the OEMs shall not be restrained from choosing from amongst Google’s proprietary applications to be pre-installed and should not be forced to pre-install a bouquet of applications. It further said that the licensing of google apps, including Play Store, should not come with a clause of mandatorily pre-installing the apps in phones.
Among other key things, the competition watchdog said that Google shall not deny access to its play services APIs to handset makers or developers to disadvantage its existing or potential competitors, and it should not provide any monetary incentive to original equipment makers for any exclusivity of its services.
Lately, the competition regulator has been investigating Google’s dominant position in other areas like news aggregation and unfair revenue sharing with the news creators.
